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Justice at Dachau: The Trials of an American Prosecutor

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This is a book well worth reading for anyone interested in WW2, The trials that took place after the war, The Holocaust and the basis of criminal law itself.

This is a compelling story of one decent, civilized man; a lawyer, Colonel William Denson, who found himself in an almost impossible position: As lead prosecutor in the trials of the Nazi criminals at Dachau, Mauthausen and other camps--how was he to handle and balance the common, accepted practices of law and jurisprudence when faced with the almost incomprehensible crimes of the Holocaust.

The book is about Denson's personal struggle with these trials and about the trials themselves. Also, of course, about the details of the camps and the perpatrators and the victims.
These trials, along with the larger, more famous Nuremberg trials, helped establish the foundations for all the international criminal tribunals that have followed.
The book examines the political winds that blew behind the scenes of the trials and how that affected the charges brought and the final outcomes of the trials (including sentencing).

If you are interested in how humanity evolves, especially in the area of international law and punishing international criminals, I advise you to read this book.

Mike Feder/WBAI-FM

"Justice at Dachau" chronicles the life and times of Prosecutor William Denson, who headed the trials held at the former Dachau camp site. These trials were overshadowed by the Nuremburg trials. For two long miserable years Denson tried and prosecuted hundreds of defendants from the concentration camps Dachau, Mauthausen, Flossenburg, and Buchenwald. Those looking for a comprehensive record of the trials will be disappointed; the book only focuses on a few of the trials' highlights and concerns itself with only a couple of the major criminal figures. (The Flossenburg trial was hardly even mentioned!)The author mentions this in the endnotes and it should come as no suprise. There are thousands and thousands of transcripts and there was only room for some of them in a single book. Despite this minor flaw the book offers a good synopsis of the trials. Anyone who reads this book cannot help but admire William Denson-he was truly a remarkable human being! The reader should be forewarned that some of the testimony is quite graphic.

"Justice at Dachau" is the story of post-WWII military tribunals told by an author who is neither a lawyer nor a soldier. Joshua Greene has unearthed a trove of interesting information that he reveals in this book, and this book is a worthwhile read because its subject has been ignored for years, but this book lacks the insight of a legal mind and the perspective of a soldier.

Joshua Greene tries to tell the story of the tribunals from the point of view of the chief prosecutor, Lieutenant Colonel William Denson. These tribunals tried hundreds of Germans (and others) who ran the concentration camps at Dachau, Mauthausen, and Buchenwald. Although the book is a worthwhile read, it suffers many weaknesses. The first is that it its legal analysis is quite weak. The author tries to argue that, although the tribunals were ad hoc, the defendants were still given due process. But the author's selected quotations from the trial transcripts show loss after loss by the defense counsel, as they argue points that would prevail under basic tenets of American justice and common law.

It is also apparent that the author is not familiar with the United States military or the history of the US Army in World War II. He constantly refers to General Lucien Truscott as Lieutenant Colonel or Colonel Lucien Truscott (3rd Army Commander in Germany after WWII); he does the same with General Lucius Clay, military governor of Germany, incorrectly calling him a "lieutenant colonel" on one page then a "general" on another. The reader never gets a sense for the higher-level decisions made regarding the trials at "JAG HQ" or quite understands how the US Army was functioning in Germany during the immediate post-war period.

Many parts of the trials are brought to life through the extensive use of excerpts from the trial transcripts. These are very interesting and engaging, as few can tell the stories of these trials better than the witnesses and participants themselves. The trials are never quite wrapped up, though, because the author fails to follow up on many of the defendants and tell the reader who was actually executed and whose sentences were commuted. Despite this, a flawed look at these fascinating trials is better than none at all.

this is an interesting book on a little known topic. the dedication of the prosecutor and the work involved in the trials is worth reading about and the politics behind the scenes are also intriguing. it is shameful that all the hard work that went to obtaining convictions was discredited and discounted in favor of political expediency. it is clear that the prosecutions were for political reasons rather than moral ones and the failure of the u.s. and others to carry out legitimate death sentences etc., is a disgrace. if nothing else the book is worth reading to vailidate the importance of the prosecutions.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I am a student of WWII but I must admit I didn't know much about the Dachau portion of the war crimes trials or anything about Mr. Denson, a remarkable man. Reading the book was an eye opening experience and the way our government ended up commuting many of the sentences was, in my opinion, a travesty of justice for all of the victims of the Nazi's. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in WWII.

When I was 18, I toured Dachau and the experience has stuck with me for over 20 years. I remember there being a ominus weight in the air and, believe it or not, you could sense terrible things happened there. As someone who works in the legal field and someone who has been to Dachau, I really enjoyed this book. As far as I'm concerned, there was never any doubt about the guilt of the charged individuals discussed in this book. I was left with a feeling of respect for the defense counsel who must of had the worst post-war job going. Defending members of the SS. Excellent read, don't be afraid to give it go.

I started reading the book, it is well written, but one need to be in the right mood for it. It is a piece of grave history in human kind, but one needs to know the truth.